Gender equality

WWF recognizes the importance of promoting gender equality across the entire organization and applying its principles to all our work. Our gender policy guides this effort.

We recognize the importance of gender equality

WWF recognizes the importance of promoting gender equality across the entire organization and applying its principles to all our work. Our gender policy guides this effort. Our general objective is to contribute to a society in which women, men, boys, girls, and people of other gender minorities, have access to the same opportunities, rights, and obligations in all spheres of life.

We treat gender equality as a right in all our work

WWF’s Gender Policy Statement signifies our ongoing commitment to equity and integration of a gender perspective in our policies, programs, and projects, as well as in our institutional structure. WWF understands that gender refers to the socially constructed roles, responsibilities, and opportunities associated with women and men, boys and girls in a society at a specific time and place, and that gender roles and relationships are not fixed; they evolve based on circumstances.

Gender Equality

Refers to the equal rights, responsibilities, and opportunities of women and men and girls and boys and other gender minorities. Equality does not mean that women and men will become the same but that women’s and men’s rights, responsibilities, and opportunities will not depend on whether they are born male or female. We see equality between people of all genders as both a human rights issue and as a precondition for, and indicator of, sustainable people-centered development.

Gender Equity

We promote gender equity because we appreciate that every WWF policy, program, and project may affect women and men, and other gender minorities differently, and may include specific measures to empower specific marginalized groups and individuals. This is an essential building block for sustainable development and effective conservation or regeneration and it is an integral part of our mission to ensure that the natural resources of our planet are shared equitably.

What to read

More details about WWF’s commitments to Gender equality can be found in the WWF policy statement on Gender, as well as several documents below.

WWF_Policy_on_Gender_Equality_consultation_draft.pdf

PDF 1.20 MB

WWF_Policy_on_Indigenous_People_and_Conservation_consultation_draft.pdf

PDF 373 KB

Child Safeguarding and Protection of Rights

PDF 445 KB

WWF_Environmental_and_Social_Safeguards_Framework_consultation_draft.pdf

PDF 3.28 MB

DOCUMENTS BY TOPIC

WWF’s Environmental and Social Safeguards and Social Policies are extensive and cover many different topics. Below you can find six topics that are frequently searched for.

Amahuaca natives. Old man Santiago with a grandson at Nuevo San Juan, a small new Amahuaca settlement along the Rio Alto Purus at the border of the Alto Purus Reserved Zone, department Ucayali, Peru. Santiago and his native group lived isolated as hunter-gatherer along the headwaters of the Rio Alto Purus and Rio Inuya until 1975, when they had first contacts with the outside world.

Indigenous Peoples and Free, Prior and Informed Consent

The rights of Indigenous Peoples to give or withhold their consent to actions that will affect them.

Human rights

We have several policies and standards in place to ensure the protection and promotion of human rights across all WWF activities.

The Monkoto female police force. Monkoto, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Law enforcement

Conservation law enforcement is carried out by WWF partners. To ensure this is done ethically and in line with international law, we have several protocols in place in the landscapes/projects we work on.

Entrance gate to the CAMIRON mine in the South-east of Cameroon.

Excluded Activities

This list outlines activities that WWF prohibits from its activities or funding.

Grievance Mechanisms

WWF is committed to strengthening its accountability towards the communities we work with. This page outlines our approach to ensure these communities can raise their concerns or express complaints about unintended negative impacts from our work and seek resolution.

People working with WWF plant mangroves in the western coastal region of Madagascar. A mangrove, a shrub or small tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water, are key to a healthy marine ecology, providing shelter to crabs and shrimps, and reducing soil erosion. Birds, sea turtles, and dugongs, an endangered marine sea mammal, all use mangroves. The land-sea barrier is also an extremely efficient way to retain CO2, thus contributing to climate protection, says WWF.

Gender Equality

WWF recognizes the importance of promoting gender equality across the entire organization and applying its principles to all our work. Our gender policy guides this effort.